andrea bartoli acuns presentation 160618

A home for the mind, heart and spirit

The Role of Faith in Meeting the Challenges of Development and Dignity

ACUNSFordham University

June 2016



The role of faith in meeting the challenges of

development and dignity is: to motivate, sustain and probe individuals and communities in

seeking the good of all.



The role of faith is especially important in inviting, encouraging and accompanying a future that is

better than the present andopen to the good of all.



The UN system is paying greater attention -at all levels- to the role of

faith in all aspects of human endeavors.

This might greatly help all member states become more attuned to the

contributions of people of faith.



A personalist approach



Dag HammarskjöldBan Ki-moon



The faith of whom? The role of whom?

The development of whom? The dignity of whom?



Human rights are personal rights protecting all

in the intimacy of their beliefs.



Human rights protect all of us from destructive use of religions,

especially those who venture into the exploration of differences and

emerging realities.



We co-author each other and can use words to give or take lives.



Humans -each human- move from immediacy to a world mediated by meaning and motivated by value.



Other humans came before us and taught us to speak and live.



Life spoke to many of them.

They encountered life beyond what we can see, touch and feel

in our own bodies. They had faith.



Like them, I am a believer asking questions on the role of faith in development and dignity.



The role of faith in meeting the challenges of

development and dignity is: to motivate, sustain and probe individuals and communities in

seeking the good of all.



Yet, I cannot escape my own subjectivity.



As any other human being, each of us is at the same time unique and universal, and can be percived by

others as a gift or a threat.



Emir Abd El Kader



One person at a time.One word at a time.One act at a time.



Development as living and creative response to adversity



Faith, hope and agency reveal human dignity.



Solidarity v. exclusion



“Seek what unites not what divides.”

Pope John XXIII



RecognizingUnderstanding

ProbingEngaging



"Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away." -Mahatma Gandhi 1948



In faith, if you seek development and recognize dignity,

listen to the poor and speak to the powerful…



Be prudent and kind with those who you do not know and those

who you think you know.



Contribute who you are to a humanity that is always in the making.



Eskerrik Asko

(Thanks; 謝謝 ; Cпасибо; شكر; Merci; Gracias)


andrea bartoli acuns presentation 160618

Education